Corn Silage Summit 2010 - Vita Plus · High CS Fat Test Staying the Course in Rough Terrain –Vita Plus Dairy Summit 2010 High Corn Silage Diets •High-fat diets not recommended

12/9/2010

1

Staying the Course in Rough Terrain – Vita Plus Dairy Summit 2010

High Corn Silage Dairy Diets

2010 Vita Plus Dairy Summit

Randall Greenfield

December 9th, 2010



High Corn Silage Diets

• Corn Silage vs. Alfalfa

– Yield

• UW 2010 4-year alfalfa variety trial averages:

– Arlington = 7.66 ton DM/acre

– Marshfield = 4.66 ton DM/acre

• UW 2007-2010 variety trial average

– All sites = 8.31 ton DM/acre

• Corn silage = 8.25 ton DM/acre

• Alfalfa = 5.5 ton DM/acre




– Assuming 60% forage diet and 500 cows

• Need 492 forage acres for 2/3 alfalfa diet

• Need 431 forage acres for 2/3 corn silage diet

• Can raise more of your own forage

– Corn silage also harvested in one pass vs. 3-5

for alfalfa.

• Fuel, soil compaction




– Manure acres needed (?)

• CS removes ~33 lb acre P

• Alfalfa removes ~43 lb acre P

• What does the book say???

• Can apply every year…

• What about N?




– Alfalfa provides ground cover in offseason

• Also carries risk of winterkill

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2




– Harvesting

• Alfalfa more difficult to obtain ideal, uniform

forage for feed


27.4% DM

7.4% BA 38.0% DM

41.1% DM

51.4% DM

28.3% DM

4.7% BA

45.0% DM


32.9% DM

34.8% DM

36.6% DM

27.4% DM

0.7% BA

32.9% DM





– Harvesting

• Corn silage – more consistent, uniform forage for

feeding




– Pricing

– Corn silage – straightforward, based on corn

grain price

– Hay/Haylage - based on??

• Local market

• Nutritionist

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3


$$

??Staying the Course in Rough Terrain – Vita Plus Dairy Summit 2010

Corn Silage = $70.96/DM ton

Haylage = $88.66/DM ton



• Diet Comparison

• Low corn silage vs. high corn silage

• Prices recorded 1st of the month since Jan. 1,

2006

• Forage values determined by:

– Corn silage = 10 X /bu price of corn

– Haylage = USDA alfalfa hay value adjusted for

moisture

OR

– Cost Estimates



lb AF High Corn Silage Low Corn Silage

Corn Silage 60.0 20.0

Haylage 24.1 56.9

Dry Corn 10.1 16.3

Wet Distillers 8.6 4.3

Cottonseed 3.0 3.0

Protein 5.5 0.8

Mineral 1.6 1.2


Monthly Forage Values

$3

$13

$23

$33

$43

$53

$63

$73

$83

$93

$103

Au

g-05

No

v-05

Feb

-06

Ma

y-06

Au

g-06

No

v-06

Feb

-07

Ma

y-07

Au

g-07

No

v-07

Feb

-08

Ma

y-08

Au

g-08

No

v-08

Feb

-09

Ma

y-09

Au

g-09

No

v-09

Feb

-10

Ma

y-10

Au

g-10

No

v-10

Feb

-11

Hlg

CS


Ration Cost $/hd/day

Monthly Forage Values

$2.50

$3.50

$4.50

$5.50

$6.50

$7.50

$8.50

Au

g-05

No

v-05

Feb

-06

Ma

y-06

Au

g-06

No

v-06

Feb

-07

Ma

y-07

Au

g-07

No

v-07

Feb

-08

Ma

y-08

Au

g-08

No

v-08

Feb

-09

Ma

y-09

Au

g-09

No

v-09

Feb

-10

Ma

y-10

Au

g-10

No

v-10

Feb

-11

Hi CS

Lo CS

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• Results?

• High Corn Silage diet vs. Low CS diet:

– Range = 34¢ advantage to 27¢ disadvantage

– Average = 3.5¢ advantage to high Corn Silage



• Diet Comparison

• Low corn silage vs. high corn silage

• Prices recorded 1st of the month since Jan. 1,

2006

• Forage values determined by:

– Corn silage = 10 X /bu price of corn

– Haylage = USDA alfalfa hay value adjusted for

moisture

OR

– Cost Estimates



lb AF High Corn Silage Low Corn Silage

Corn Silage 60.0 20.0

Haylage 24.1 56.9

Dry Corn 10.1 16.3

Wet Distillers 8.6 4.3

Cottonseed 3.0 3.0

Protein 5.5 0.8

Mineral 1.6 1.2


2010 Cost-Estimate Forage Values

$3

$8

$13

$18

$23

$28

$33

$38

$43

Au

g-05

No

v-05

Feb

-06

Ma

y-06

Au

g-06

No

v-06

Feb

-07

Ma

y-07

Au

g-07

No

v-07

Feb

-08

Ma

y-08

Au

g-08

No

v-08

Feb

-09

Ma

y-09

Au

g-09

No

v-09

Feb

-10

Ma

y-10

Au

g-10

No

v-10

Feb

-11

Hlg

CS


Ration Cost $/hd/day

2010 Cost Estimate Forage Values

$2.50

$3.50

$4.50

$5.50

$6.50

$7.50

$8.50

Au

g-05

No

v-05

Feb

-06

Ma

y-06

Au

g-06

No

v-06

Feb

-07

Ma

y-07

Au

g-07

No

v-07

Feb

-08

Ma

y-08

Au

g-08

No

v-08

Feb

-09

Ma

y-09

Au

g-09

No

v-09

Feb

-10

Ma

y-10

Au

g-10

No

v-10

Feb

-11

Hi CS

Lo CS



• Results?

• High Corn Silage diet vs. Low CS diet:

– Range = 5¢ advantage to 24¢ disadvantage

– Average = 8¢ disadvantage to high Corn Silage

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• When valued monthly:

– High CS = 3.5¢/hd/day advantage

– =$6,387.50 annually on 500 milk-cows

• When valued at current cost estimate:

– Low CS = 8¢/hd/day advantage

– =$14,600 annually on 500 milk-cows



Which is more important??

• When valued monthly:

– High CS = 3.5¢/hd/day advantage

– =$6,387.50 annually on 500 milk-cows

• When valued at current cost estimate:

– Low CS = 8¢/hd/day advantage

– =$14,600 annually on 500 milk-cows

*



• Are you growing or buying your forages?

• Could you make different ingredient choices?

– Avg. feed cost for Hi CS (cost basis) = $3.89

– 8¢ savings = 2.0% savings

– Change your whole system?

• Using inexpensive protein sources is the key to making high CS diet work $$

• (Un)fortunately, no clear winner



• What about the cows?

• Which do they prefer?

• Nutritional considerations…


3.50

3.55

3.60

3.65

3.70

3.75

3.80

3.85

3.90

Aug-03 Aug-04 Aug-05 Aug-06 Aug-07 Aug-08 Aug-09 Aug-10


3.50

3.55

3.60

3.65

3.70

3.75

3.80

3.85

3.90

Aug-03 Aug-04 Aug-05 Aug-06 Aug-07 Aug-08 Aug-09 Aug-10

FMMO 30 Fat Test %

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• Fat Test Concerns

– Effective fiber

– Wet, rapidly fermented starch

– Fat sources


Ruminal Metabolism of Dietary FatRuminal Metabolism of Dietary Fat

Fat (Triglyceride)

Triglyceride

Free fatty acid

Saturated (palmitic C16:0,

stearic C18:0)

Unsaturated (linoleic C18:2,

linolenic C18:3)

Hydrolysis

Biohydrogenation


Ruminal Metabolism of Dietary FatRuminal Metabolism of Dietary Fat

Fat (Triglyceride)

Saturated (palmitic C16:0,

stearic C18:0)

Unsaturated (linoleic C18:2,

linolenic C18:3)

Intermediate Products

Rumen

Environment

Milkfat

Depression



• Rumen Environment factors affecting

biohydrogenation

– Lowered pH

• Excessive/high rate of CHO fermentation

• Lack of effective fiber

– High unsaturated fat levels

– High rate of passage



• Wet Starch

• More available for a quick rumen

fermentation to acids

• If production speed exceeds removal

speed; acid buildup; lower rumen pH

• 2009 Corn Crop

– Started out wet…



• New data showing starch gets more

available over time

• Summer of 2010

• High CS diets will always have this

potential

• Expect low fat tests when feeding high CS

diets with silage that’s been stored >6-8

months

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3.20

3.25

3.30

3.35

3.40

3.45

3.50

3.55

3.60

3.65

3.70

3.75

Oct-06 Apr-07 Nov-07 Jun-08 Dec-08 Jul-09 Jan-10 Aug-10 Feb-11

High CS Fat Test



• High-fat diets not recommended with

high-corn silage diets

– More fat to be processed

– Increased risk of partial processing in the

rumen

• Be especially careful with unprotected

vegetable fats

– Wet distillers grains



Effective Fiber

• Hay 90-95%

• Processed Hay 40-65%

• Haylage 40-80%

• Corn Silage 30-70%

• Particle Size…From Hutjens, 2010



• Effective Fiber

• 8-12 lb minimum dry hay and/or 1-2 lb

wheat straw with less hay recommended

• Chop corn silage at ¾” theoretical chop

length



• What about grass?

– Better match with

high CS than

alfalfa??

• Less NFC more

NDF

– Can we also get

this from

byproduct fiber?

12/9/2010

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• Summary

• A high corn silage diet may or may not be the

right economical choice for any given dairy.

• Corn silage has some important harvest, storage,

and feedout advantages.

• High corn silage diets will always carry more fat

test risk.

• An absolute max of 70% of forage as CS is

recommended


Questions

Documents

Corn Silage Summit 2010 - Vita Plus · High CS Fat Test Staying the Course in Rough Terrain –Vita Plus Dairy Summit 2010 High Corn Silage Diets •High-fat diets not recommended